ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 – 9:30 A.M.
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)
When I have forgiven every wrong against me, when I have overlooked every hard word and thought, when I have patiently endured every trial and comforted every fallen friend, when I have forgotten every slight, slander, and desertion, I still have not endured one fraction of what Christ bore for and from me. It is much easier to understand and forgive the weaknesses of others when we recognize those same infirmities in ourselves. —Copied
The atonement for sin is made only by Christ, our Great High Priest. He, Himself, and no other, bore our sins; and He, Himself, purged them away. By His sacrifice alone He expiated our sins and accomplished our salvation, and of the people there were none to help nor assist Him. Moses wrote, “And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when the high priest goes in to make an atonement in the Holy Place, until he come out” (Lev. 16:17). When our Shepherd was smitten by the sword of justice, the sheep were scattered and all His disciples forsook Him and fled. There were none to appear for Him, nor stand by Him, not in the least to lend an assisting hand in the great work in which He was engaged. He is the only Mediator between God and men, both of redemption and of intercession. He is the alone Saviour; to Him only are sinners to look for salvation, and He is to have all the glory. He had no partner in the work of redemption, and He will have no rival in the honor of it. —John Gill
Though trials abound, temptations are strong, take courage. God is still on His throne, and He is right now working all things together for good to them that love Him, to them who are called according to His purpose. Jesus Christ's blood and righteousness is still effectual. None who plead His merits can ever come under condemnation. Whatever difficulty we are going through, whatever burdens we presently bear, let us continue to trust Him, to take our cares and cast them upon Him, to patiently endure in assurance of salvation, knowing that He will in His own time work these things out for His glory and our eternal good. —Copied
Our Lord Jesus became “surety” by His voluntarily undertaking, out of His rich grace and love, to do, answer, and perform all that is required on our part that we may enjoy the benefits of the everlasting covenant. He undertook to answer, as the Surety of the covenant, for the sins of all believers; that is, to undergo the punishment due unto their sins, to make an atonement for them, redeeming them by the price of His blood from their state of misery and bondage under the law and its curse. —John Owen
May these things sink deep into your heart, that your Surety has undertaken the whole of your salvation! Salvation is accomplished and finished by your Surety, given to you freely, continued with all its blessings in time and through eternity as a free gift, to the praise and glory of His grace. YOU ARE TO LOOK TO CHRIST as your Surety; and whatever He has promised in His Word relating to this salvation, you are to trust Him to make it good before God the Father, and to depend upon His faithfulness and power to make it good to you. —William Romaine
Everlasting security in the family and fellowship of God is founded upon His grace in Christ. Until a sinner is established securely in the state of grace, justified and entitled to all of salvation, permanently adopted into God’s family, based on the righteousness of Christ freely imputed and received by faith, all his highest attainments, most profound reformations, and greatest efforts at morality and obedience, can only be classified as fruit unto death and dead works. They are the attainments, reformations, and efforts of one who in his conscience is under the law of God and who is either ignorant of or not submitted to Christ and His righteousness. Every effort to obey God is an act of open idolatry (Rom. 3:10-18), a work of the flesh (Php. 3:4-6), a self-righteous deed (Rom. 3:19-20), and a denial and rejection of Christ and His redemptive work (Gal. 3:21; 5:2-4). This is why all justified sinners should be eternally grateful to the God of all grace, that He has saved them and secured them in His family so that they can bring forth fruit unto God, so that they can serve and seek to obey God in ways that honor God, exalt Christ, and remove all grounds of boasting in themselves (Php. 3:3). In this state of grace, believers can honestly say, “By the grace of God we are what we are, and by the grace of God we do what we do in the way of that which is pleasing unto God.” —Pastor Bill Parker
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